Sky Drive
by dotRHEA
Summary: Long story short, Tsuna's daughter has gone missing and the search has been ceased until Niall Gokudera came up with some pretty solid evidence. Will he be able to prove everyone wrong and find her or will he get distracted along the way? 11 gen.
1. Reprise: Prologue

I did it again, I'm rewriting 'Sky Drive' again. Hah... I wish I can just finish something, this was supposed to be finished this year because it was "2011 for the 11th generation"... You can find the original Sky Drive in my writing dump on my fictionpress account. Link is in my profile.

Well... Enjoy. I do not own anything

* * *

><p><strong>1. Reprise : Prologue<strong>

"_She taught me many new things"_

Out of the many alternate realities that were spun following the Vongola's victory in the future was one that resulted in Tsuna's ideal family.

After the past generation went back home and the current Vongola was returned, Tsuna took the glorious opportunity to propose to Kyoko—something he wished he'd done before he dies so as to prevent those creepy classmates from chasing after her during her study abroad—he was in a dead-like state, he wasn't dead. She, of course, accepted and the poor mafia boss was assaulted later on by Haru about the proper timing—he proposed not even five minutes of their return, when his whole family found him before his open air coffin and he just randomly took out a ring from his back pocket while his family cried over the fact that he was alive. Way to go Tsuna.

The months… no years following that were hectic; the aftereffect of Byakuran's tyranny was something Tsuna never wished to be reminded of again. Fixing the Vongola was one thing, repairing the world was another—at one point the poor twenty four year old somehow found himself as the King of the European Union, who had complete control over three entire continents.

But he did it, the man successfully restored the world back to its original state and maybe even put it in better hands—many of the underdeveloped countries now had democratic governments, his family help find a cost efficient and abundant alternative to fossil fuels and the mafia became the ultimate secret police force. It took almost ten years, but he did it.

During those years of redemption, Tsuna married Kyoko—their wedding was glorious… the power he held in the new world, his very existence became so well known that the entire reception was aired on international television. They were so happy with each other as Tsuna found himself in the midst of a love season within his family; his guardians, allies—heck even Xanxus got married not long after he did! He was happy with his life until following the birth of his third child.

At age thirty, Tsuna started to notice that none of his sons had the gift of pure flames. At first he shook it off as a normal thing; maybe they were just late bloomers, but then the years passed and still no sign. Then reborn started nagging him about it, started telling him that he needed a legitimate heir or else Xanxus' son would be the one chosen to lead the Vongola when the time came. At that time, Kyoko fell very ill- a disease that ran in her family was finally catching up to her and her brother was nowhere to be found. The last Tsuna heard of Ryohei was that he was bringing I-pin out to the Sahara Desert for an 'extreme training exercise'. To make matters worse, Shamal had informed him earlier that month that his wife would be giving birth to a premature infant soon. A sick premature infant isn't a good thing. Not at all. Sick mothers giving birth to sick premature babies weren't good either.

But Kyoko was adamant about having the child, no matter how many times Tsuna tried to convince her that it wouldn't do her, or the baby any good. That abortion was the best option. He knew she knew that none of their sons would be able to inherit the sins of the Vongola, that none of them had the gift of flames, and maybe it was because of the small hope that this one would be the one, that she so stubbornly wanted to go through the delivery. The reason why she always said the same thing over and over again when they argued about the baby,

"You don't need to worry anymore."

When she did give birth a few weeks later. Kyoko refused the surgery she was supposed to have in favor of giving birth to their daughter. The boss was so furious that the moment her decision reached his ears- he stomped out the room, leaving behind his pale sickly wife and a shocked doctor. He locked himself in his study for days, refusing to open the door to anyone and not bothering to open the door when the maids came with his meal. By the time the second week rolled by, Reborn finally snapped and kicked down the door, the now curse-free Arcobaleno made it a point to break the news of his wife to him in the harshest way possible.

"Your actions killed her, stupid kid."

Whatever happened after that is unclear but somehow Tsuna ended up being dragged into Vendicare, where he had to stay in chains for almost a full year.

When he returned to the mansion, he was met by a worried Gokudera, a lecturing Yamamoto and Ryohei who looked like he was trying to keep a whole river of anger from exploding from his mouth as he carried a young girl in his arms, one who looked a little too familiar.

"Wow, is that your daughter? She's adorable."

"No, she's yours."

And suddenly he saw it, he saw the heart shaped face, the mob of auburn hair, the perky nose, the pouty lips and the helpless eyes that reminded him so much of his own when he was young.

She stared at him silently in Ryohei's arms, making small baby noises in protest every time he moved his arms to turn her away from the mafia boss.

"Can I… can I… hold her?"

Around this time, during his mini examination of his daughter, his sons had appeared from one of the rooms in the west wing, running down the halls and happily shouting about how daddy was finally home.

"As long as you don't drop her or throw her at the wall or something…"

While he was in Vendicare, the only thing he thought about was Kyoko. How it was all her fault he ended up in the mafia prison, how his love wasn't enough, how they didn't know each other enough. At first it was his mistakes that he thought about, and then it was hers and then he didn't know what he was thinking about anymore because he would find himself in tears. Loudly sobbing to himself while the darkness of the cell consumed him, he doesn't remember how many days passed by like that until he finally calmed down and the officers let him out.

The moment he stretched out his arms towards the young girl, he remembered how it felt holding his firstborn, how he had asked Kyoko to let him hold his son, promising not to drop the baby while his wife teased him. He realized he was being selfish, while he was in Vendicare, he never even thought about his children. It was all just him and Kyoko. Their relationship and their mistakes. Never of the consequences their actions caused. He watched as the girl shifted, almost stretching to try to match her father's embrace. After Ryohei dumped her into Tsuna's waiting arms, the first thing she did was to pull onto his dress shirt and give him a big sloppy kiss on the side of his lip.

It felt like he was reliving the moment he held onto his firstborn again.

The now thirty-six year old cried then and there, as he held onto his daughter protectively; cried as his sons ran over to him with his daughter in his arms, cried as he fell onto his knees in front of his guardians, cried as his sons hugged him lovingly. He cried and cried as the girl continued to shower him with warm kisses, warm sky-filled kisses. Her big innocent eyes staring at him as they began to water with tears.

"What's her name?"

"Hitomi."

Later that night, he walked into the nursery and tucked in his sleeping daughter before staring at the large portrait of Sasagawa Kyoko that was hung on the wall above the bed.

"I'm not worried anymore," he whispered, his voice cracking with new tears as he closed his eyes sadly.

* * *

><p>Review?<p> 


	2. Reprise: Eleventh Hour

I just want to say thank you to k0ush4fukuj1 and Callistael for fav/alerting and reviewing this story. You guys are awesome! This chapter is a tad bit rushed but I hope you people like it anyway...

If you have any questions, please feel free to review and I'll reply as soon as possible!

* * *

><p><strong>2. Reprise: Eleventh-Hour<strong>

_"You have to be willing to sacrifice in order to protect."_

Watching Hitomi grow up was painful for the Decimo's Sun Guardian; her voice, her innocence, her denseness, her _everything_reminded him of his dead sister. Heck, she even looked like a three year old Kyoko!

And he hated it.

But he couldn't get himself to hate the young girl. It was strange, he never really cared for her sons; sure they were extremely awesome and had a lot of potential but none had the connection he felt with Hitomi. Maybe because they had the same face as their father- but that wouldn't be right because he could see remnants of his dead sister in them; from her hair to their nose, from her delicate fingers to their stubby toes, he just couldn't figure out what made Hitomi all the more special to him.

So he decides not to dwell long on it because from the moment the doctors gave him the thumbs up and allowed him to bring the baby out the incubator, he promised himself that he'll give her the best possible childhood a young girl like her could have. A childhood her mother would've wanted her to have. A childhood that the two of them didn't get.

By the time she turns three and a half, he finds out that Hitomi is like the sharper version of Kyoko. She catches on to the fact that she was born into a criminal organization quicker than his sister realized that their injuries weren't from sumo competitions, she trains and trains with her brothers until they collapse due to exhaustion, and he fears that she's becoming a bit too mature for a kid her age. He fears that he isn't doing enough to grant his sister's unspoken will.

It comes as a relief to him when she shows up in the garden after a long day; he's reminded that she's still a kid when she lays down on the bench beside him, a kid who's trying to please her parent, a good kid who's trying hard not to let anything bother her. She's a good kid, and that's all it comes to in the end when she opens her dry chapped lips and asks in his sister's voice,

"Uncle Ryohei, can you read me story of Snow White? The one you always read to me when I was little?"

You're still little, he wants to retort inside his mind, he wants to scold her for being too mature for her age, he wants to take her to the nearest park and let her play with the other kids her age. But he knows it's not his place to do these things, that it wouldn't do her any good anyways. She's different from all the rest after all; she's supposed to be bred into a lady, into a strong woman that would lead a semi-criminal-justice organization that her father created. She doesn't have time for the things other kids do, she's a good girl but in everyone eyes, she isn't good enough.

He doesn't need the storybook to tell the tale of Snow White; he's read it so many times to her that he memorized it word for word. It's possibly the only thing that's been able to stay in his head despite all the punches to the face he's taken.

The version she wants to hear however was a story first written as a joke by Bianchi; it tells of a beautiful young maiden banished from her kingdom until she finds her prince and a golden apple. The young maiden leaves with seven handsome knights, all with his own different personality; they travel around the world for her prince and the legendary golden apple. They endure bandits, thieves, cold winters and hot summers until they all decide to settle down in a small cottage in the middle of a forest they found on their journeys. One day, while the knights are out in search for food and clues to the whereabouts of the golden apple, there's a knock on the door to which the young maiden obviously answers to. Outside, she sees one of the village's elders, an old widow with a cane the shape of a wolf's head. She tells her that she caught wind of her mission and that she's willing to give the maiden her golden apple if she cured her grandson of his illness. She accepts the old woman's offer and the two head off to the old woman's house. When they finally get there, she finds a handsome young fellow laying in the bed, his breaths erratic. She leans down to kiss him when the widow swiftly swings her cane at the maiden, injecting a poison into her body the moment her cane touches her skin. When her knights found out of their maiden's misfortunes, they came to collect her body in sorrow, laying her down in a bed in the middle of a blossoming meadow and returned to their kingdom, heads down knowing that they failed their mission- except for one. Unbeknownst to everyone, it was one of the knights who the old woman was asking the maiden to save. Having been caught off guard, the woman poisoned him and dragged her off to her home before going after the young maiden- Snow White. Months later, that very same knight returned to the meadow where they laid Snow White to rest and gently kissed her. The poison seeped out from her wounds and the power of his true love's kiss was enough to wake the beautiful maiden. While explaining his identity to the young maiden, they kissed once again. Their love bore a golden fruit and they returned to their kingdom happily in love and lived happily ever after.

He doesn't really understand how in the world anyone would like this kind of a fairy tale but apparently his niece does and he tells it to her until she falls asleep in his lap. He tells it in a voice that could rival his own sister's storytelling and when it's all done, he finds himself thinking that Kyoko would've liked the same story too if she was still alive.

When he brings Hitomi to his apartment in Namimori, Hana immediately understands why her fiancé comes home late every time he's in town. It's like watching a piece of yourself fly off the walls in the form of a young curious child. Hitomi is so much like Kyoko that the two find it hard to distinguish the two until she starts talking. The dark haired woman understands the reason behind her fiancé's stress and decides to work on that in the form of dolls and kiddy shows. By the time Gokudera comes to pick up the tenth's daughter, the two feel like he's taking their own daughter away from them and it hurts oh so much until he brings her again the next morning, holding the very same doll she gave her the day before. It makes her smile at the very thought of having a piece of Kyoko with them on those days.

By the time she's six, Hitomi is the spitting image of Kyoko in flames. She dances around the stage, flips and does cartwheels in a circus act of pure orange inferno. Ryohei feels his heart drop as he watches the young girl he helped raise run to her father when it's all over, her short orange-brown hair dances behind her as she runs into his boss' embrace. He can't hate him either, because he knows he's trying to do what's best of what remains of Kyoko.

Then it all shatters and the tent falls down like a dirty rag, bullets piercing though the blue white cloth and the guardians are quick to form a protective circle around the tenth and his family.

The battle is long, he feels so tired, so beaten after unleashing his Maximum Sunshine Counter a hundred times over, he feels like a sack of skin and fat- most of his bones are broken and he knows that he doesn't have enough energy to heal that. When it's all over and they're standing midst a bloody sea of bodies, he turns around to see his niece breathing heavily in the arms of her father, who's already in Hyper Dying Will Mode, angry tears in his eyes as he disfigures the body of the leader with one gloved hand.

His whole world shatters at the sight of that and he realizes that he can't keep the promise anymore because her childhood was already messed up.

Several weeks after that, he sees her off on a plane heading into a foreign country, her tutor beside her. They have a long meaningful conversation before the two embrace and he apologizes for her father not being there but she's a good kid and claims that she already saw it coming. He doesn't miss her big doe like eyes watering up after saying that though and he wonders who taught her how to lie.

They say their goodbyes and she enters the plane for however long their little trip was going to take.

A few hours after that, while Ryohei is driving back to the mansion, he hears that there was a terrorist attack leading to several planes in the Italian airspace to explode while on route. He turns a blind eye as he shakes his head, knowing that Hitomi was on the international airspace on her way to whatever lay across the ocean.

The next day, they lose contact with the tenth's daughter and he doesn't know what to think.

He can't hate Tsuna, even though he hasn't been there for most of her childhood, he knows he loved her like a father should; if he hadn't realize that earlier then it definitely showed during the next few years of solitude following his daughter's disappearance because to him, she was alive. Whatever his hyper intuition was telling him, Tsuna knew she was just lost was desperately trying to search for her through his many business partners after the long hours of work.

He couldn't hate Kyoko either; it wasn't her fault that she was so bloody daft half- no, all the time.

Maybe it was all his fault, maybe he sheltered her too much, maybe he spoiled her too much. Maybe, just maybe had he jumped onto the plane with them, this whole mess wouldn't have happened. Hana tells him otherwise.

The years pass by just like that… Since the disappearance of Hitomi, Reborn helped tutor Xanxus' son who was decided by an anonymous party to be the heir to the sins of the family if Hitomi was still missing by the time of her eighteenth birthday. Despite the small betrayal on the Arcobaleno's party, Tsuna never stopped searching for his daughter and neither did Ryohei or the rest of the family.

By the time of her twelfth birthday, they thought about giving up their search for her. She wasn't anywhere to be found, too many reports were flooding into their systems about how new bodies of the Italian Terrorist Attacks were being discovered every second and pressure within the families and allies grew as the time of the Vongola Trials drew closer. Steffan was improving at an amazing rate after all. They gave up on Christmas on that year, accepting the fact that she'll never be found.

Two years later, CEDEF reported seeing a teen with the likeliness of the tenth's long dead wife roaming down the streets of Mexico.


	3. Confirmation

I had to rewrite this chapter twice 'cause I got kind of... stuck. Excuse me for the sort of lateness haha... I'm planning on changing the summary soon but I can't really think of a good one at this moment. Thanks to blacklightningwolf, Callistael, crystalprincess101, k0ush4fukuj1 and Twilight Dark Angel for favoriting/alerting/reviewing!

* * *

><p><strong>3. Confirmation<strong>

_"It's hard to know they're out there, it's hard to know that you still care"_

Niall Gokudera pushed open the doors to the study angrily, his grumpy footsteps startling the small girl who was seated on the leather recliner. She looked up at him in shock, eyeing him over and immediately noticed the crumbled papers he held in his pale white fists, she let a frown slide onto her lips as she turned back to her companion, a tall dark boy who hadn't looked up from his reports since Niall entered the room. The silver haired teen glared at his boss as he stomped his way over to the two, crashing onto the arm chair next to the smaller girl as he slammed the papers onto the table, his multiple silver rings gleaming in the light.

"You should've told me earlier," he muttered through clenched teeth as he slouched further into the arm chair, placing his head on his hands and glared at Steffan. "We could've brought her home by now, you selfish bastard."

From the corner of his eye, he could see Harmonia cringe at the brutality of his murmurs; the girl never did like it when the people around her swore after all but he was too frustrated to care. He could see the way she looked at him sadly though and it made him wonder if she was in on it too.

Steffan didn't make a move to reply as his eyes quickly scanned another mission report, the only sign that the dark haired boy gave to acknowledge his best friend's presence was to move aside the crumbled up report he threw onto his coffee table and grope for a pen. Harmonia dropped a spare onto the reports needlessly.

Niall watched with a tad bit of interest as the cycle continued on for the next few minutes, occasionally massaging the side of his head and letting out loud exasperated sighs as he tried to calm down from his random bout of anger and frustration. His eyebrows were still creased angrily when the Varia Boss' Son set down the last of the mission reports and scanned over the crumbled up piece of paper Niall had threw at him. He scowled at him the way a parent would at their spoiled child,

"If I was a selfish bastard, I wouldn't have given you the report in the first place."

"No, but you could've reminded me that I had some important shit on my desk three months ago."

"Not my problem that you can't keep your shit together."

"Why you little ..."

Harmonia cleared her throat awkwardly and the two teen aged Mafiosi quickly composed themselves before sitting back down, not realizing that they were inching towards each other angrily and reaching for their boxes with each insult. She stared expectantly at the two of them as if she was dealing with children. They looked away from each other for a moment before Niall chose to start again in a much calmer voice,

"I want permission to go to America."

He watched as Steffan turned his head to examine him expressionlessly, Steffan who was a few months younger than him and already a boss to his own family. It seemed the training with Reborn left quite a reminder on him as he could see small cuts and bruises forming on random areas on his tanned skin, making him look a lot more like his father. Steffan who was Xanxus' only son, Steffan with his mother's dull blue eyes and his father's manly features, Steffan- who would forever be the kid who thought Niall was Lussuria's son when he first met him.

The teen dropped his stare and turned his attention to the report papers he left on his silver head's desk months ago, noticing the small scribbles and side notes that decorated each page,

"What makes you think she's in America." It wasn't a question that escaped from his mouth, though worded so, the drop in the teen's voice made it seem more like a statement than a question. Niall always knew that Steffan had an awkward way of saying things.

"Umm... I helped Niall check the airline records," Harmonia piped in suddenly, earning a quiet nod and _hmm_from Steffan, "and came up with some theories."

Niall nodded a little too eagerly as he felt himself relax, "since the sighting was during the summer and the girl," he didn't dare put his hopes up saying it was her, "in question looks a little too pale for the living conditions in Mexico. Harmonia and I speculate that she was there for a summer vacation or a possible meeting."

Hopefully Steffan didn't ask why she couldn't just fly back to Italy if it really was her or why she was in Mexico in the first place...

"You better get your eyes checked, scum." He would be lying if he said his chest didn't tighten and he wasn't even the slightest bit scared at the darker teen's sudden change in attitude, his voice hinting that he was starting to get more and more grumpier with each passing minute. "What makes you think it really was her and not just someone who looked like Sasagawa Kyoko?"

Niall almost let out a sigh when Steffan asked that, almost. Though it was really hard to tell with him, he knew Steffan was one of the people who actually wanted to find the tenth's missing daughter and not to just follow the stead of the current head of the Vongola. He knew if his boss knew he was putting too much hope on this one encounter then he would drop it forever, he had to be careful with his words.

"When we were little, I always noticed that her left eye looked more tired than the right, no matter how long she slept..." It surprised him how much of a stalker he sounded like when he said that and quickly decided to continue before he embarrassed himself further, "and if you look closely, you can see that her roots are exactly the same shade of orange-brown Sasagawa Kyoko had."

"And?" Steffan asked, unimpressed, "any trashy woman can have those traits. That's like telling me Harm has the biggest pair of tits you've ever seen on someone her age."

He tried to ignore the loud shriek that came from the girl and the half assed attempt to slap Steffan as he covered his mouth embarrassingly, a bright red blush decorating his face. Leave it to Steffan to say the most inappropriate things at the wrong time.

When they all settled down, the silver haired teen quickly sent the younger girl off to fetch the report folder from his room. When she came back, he started again while pointing at a small spot on the photograph, where her ankle was, "I didn't notice it at first but after examining the report for a while, I realized how strange it was for a person to have a spot of skin that was darker than the rest just above where you ankle was. So I scanned the photograph and zoomed in on the spot to find this..."

Wordlessly, he passed a picture to Steffan of the area he was talking about, it was zoomed in so much that it was barely recognizable and almost too blurry to make out the burnt Vongola insignia that was on her skin, "didn't that stupid girl trip on a branding iron once?"

"And get a burn on her ankle, yeah."

The small smirk that crossed Steffan lips was more of a reward Niall could ever hope for, ever since the tenth stopped searching, the boy felt an ever growing hatred for him and his father. An anger that only the assassination missions Steffan assigned him to perform could settle. When he first came across the report, he was overjoyed. He set to work immediately, failing to inform his father of his discovery. When he did, however, he was enraged that he had already known and hadn't bothered to tell his son, her best friend and pseudo-guard. He remembered his father telling him to just leave it alone and that the guardians already looked into it and explained how it wasn't her. Not like that stopped him, so he did his own research and found facts that supported his inquiry. And when he got his facts straight, he went straight to Decimo who shot him down five seconds flat. But the small prideful part of his head, the part that wasn't dying of embarrassment yet drove him to go to Steffan. If anyone had the best pair of eyes, it would be Steffan (actually it would be Xanxus but he wouldn't be caught dead asking him). Which explained his foul mood when he first entered the room. The small smirk only confirmed his believes and he found himself beaming at Harmonia who had forgotten whatever happened a few minutes ago and was bouncing on the balls of her feet happily.

"Get your ass out of here already and start packing, scum." he didn't miss the small hint of hope in his voice when he said that as he bolted out the room.

He'll show them... He'll bring her back himself even if it was the last thing he did.

He wasn't aware of how hard that was going to be.


	4. Doubtless

I probably spent FOREVER staring at this empty page wondering HOW THE HECK AM I GOING TO START THIS, I tried writing three times and I- ahh who am I to kid? I was reading manga and playing games the whole time haha.

I haven't done enough research so I'm just making some things up so don't mind me.

* * *

><p><strong>4. Doubtless<strong>

_"Sometimes when I close my eyes I pretend I'm alright but it's never enough"_

When Niall left for the Varia's private jet that Steffan had prepared for him, he wasn't in the best of moods. If you take into consideration of all the times he got into a disagreement with his father- Hayato Gokudera (which was almost everyday), now would've been considered as the worst. It was as if the Gokudera household was fated to ill fortune, he never got along well with Bianchi either; the woman simply annoyed him to no end.

The moment he let slip that he was going to America; the older man knew immediately what his son's new mission enlisted. And it wasn't to keep his son from chasing a dead girl's ghost this time. He hated the idea of his son going to America, where their family had absolutely no ties to. With no allies, the families that held territory there can very well interpret the boy's arrival as a declaration of war. Even after Niall explained all the precautions they took to prevent suspicion, his father was strongly against the teen's decision.

He wasn't sure how the fight ended, and he wouldn't care to remember anyways. All that mattered to him was that he left the Vongola mansion in one piece albeit a small bruise. He hated how much his father nagged him; every minute away from him was like a reprieve to him. It was always like this after his mother left to become a scholar in her father's footsteps, but that was a long time ago and it was something that Niall didn't want to remember.

"Niall, are you going to be ok?" The silver haired teen quickly freed himself of the thought of visiting his grandfather before breaking his glare out the window and turning to Harmonia, who was sitting beside him. "At least let me heal it..."

He shook his head with a slight frown on his lips; though Steffan's unofficial family was meant to be for business purposes only and to keep up appearances, he liked to think of some of the members as his actual family. Harmonia, who was the youngest in the group, was more of a little sister than a Mafioso partner to them and it didn't take a genius to figure out that both Steffan and Niall cared deeply for her. Even though they both knew that Harmonia Arlette was one of the most capable assassins her age; it sometimes made them cringe at how they tried to shape her into the soft girl she is today.

Trust was a hard thing to earn in the mafia, even among allies. Nowadays, Mafiosi kept finding ways to dodge past the rules the Vendice set up with their own hidden agendas, plans that used their family members as pawns and soldiers. He found it disgusting that there were still people in the world that were willing to degrade themselves to that level (it was even more repulsing to think about how Harmonia's own father was one of those people).

"Man, you're so lucky," he heard her pout as he turned his attention back to staring out the window before realizing that he could see her reflection perfectly if he leaned back a bit, "Steffan is so restricting, it was hard enough to convince him to let me see you off!"

"That's for your own safety, Harm."

"I told you guys to stop calling me that!"

"Whatever floats your boat, Miss Arlette."

Niall cast a quick look at the girl's reflection, tuning out whatever she was ranting on this time to see a slightly spoiled eleven year old screaming at him. Harmonia was young, extremely young with the most raw sun flames ever seen in the Varia. And they all knew that any power hungry Mafioso would kill to have her flames in his possession. Steffan was doing the right thing by keeping her inside.

"Young master and young miss, we have arrived." He didn't know just how many hours passed for the driver to stop the Benz and step outside the car to see them out. He was too busy staring out the window when the scenery slowly changed into a runway and Harmonia's mindless chatter began to die down.

"Well I guess this is I see you off for good, Steffan strictly ordered that I must not exit the car when we arrive at the runway." Niall nodded stubbornly, it wasn't because they were Mafioso that they had to drive in a car with tinted window. It was for Harmonia's protection; he's ridden so many cars with the girl and stared out so many tinted windows that he slowly grew used to the fact that no one could see his odd fanatics behind the glass panel.

"I'm coming back though, so it's not goodbye"

"Yeah, so I guess... See you later?"

They've went through this process so many times that the words just came to them, with the same amount of hesitation and same amount of awkwardness. It was an unspoken ritual they had every time Niall had to leave the country for an assignment, like their very own good luck charm. But as the months grew on them, the charm lost its magic along with the hesitation and hushed worried feelings. The Varia only accepted missions with a 90% rate- there was no room for weaklings and their ritual just became a way to dodge past an awkward silence where they had to dig for words to say.

Niall frowned after a moment before quickly deciding to mess up the younger girl's hair childishly, grinning from ear to ear. "You take good care of yourself, ok?"

"You'll come back after a few months of finding her right?" she asked like a small child trying to reassure themselves that their parents won't leave them. Even after all the theories they spun up together, she didn't realize that three months wasn't enough to find a person; forget about pinpointing them.

"I'll come back with her, I promise." Nonetheless, he let a small smile slip his lips as thoughts of bringing the tenth's daughter back home raced through his mind. He'll do it; he'll do it and prove to everyone that she was still alive.

Harmonia had a glazed over look in her eyes after he said that, but the boy only shook it off for the tears that she was going to spill when she returned to their stoic boss. He pulled himself out from the leather seat after a quick hug and stepped outside, stretching his tired muscles.

"Is she really that important to you?" He heard Harmonia ask after the driver shut the passenger door and went to get his things. It didn't take long for him to think up a proper reply as he walked up to the window, tapped it and gave her a careless thumbs up with a goofy looking grin on his face. Talking to Harmonia always did somehow calm him down; maybe the girl was diagnosed with the wrong flame. Maybe she had two.

As the driver handed him his luggage and wished him the best of luck on his mission, he watched silently as the car began to veer off pass the corner and out of his sight. A permanent scowl slowly began to replace the careless grin that ensnared his face as he headed up the stairs into the luxury jet.

I'll show you, father. He thought bitterly as he stepped into the jet, the door slamming shut behind him and portable stairs moving away outside. I'll bring her back and show everyone that she's still alive.

* * *

><p>Review?<p> 


	5. To Surrender

I actually had a lot of trouble naming this chapter, originally it was supposed to be shorter and the dream was supposed to appear first but then I changed my mind and this happened... thanks to Chrome Nagi Dokuro for favouriting this story!

* * *

><p><strong>5. To Surrender<strong>

_"When the words take days, you can rewrite and erase anything"_

Niall would be lying if he said that living with her mom's boyfriend's family wasn't weird at all- it hasn't even been a full week since he happened to come across his mom in the rain and already he could feel the distance between him and her boyfriend. And if the ever growing tension between them wasn't enough, then it was his mom trying to convince him to fake a Japanese accent every time her boyfriend was around so that he'll believe that she actually did get married while in Japan and not some random place like in Italy as his features hinted.

It was worse than living with his dad.

Four months had passed since he left the Italy, four long months of chasing down rumors and scouting towns. He didn't even want to know just how many times he got mugged or had to sleep on the street; wasn't sure just how long he had to look or hear the same thing over and over again before he came to the conclusion that she was _here_. Here in this small seaside town that his mother decided to settle down in.

He could sigh in relief if he wasn't so stressed out at the moment.

"Hey..." the teen tried to restrain himself from smacking the younger boy as he poked him curiously, "why is your hair silver?"

Just how many times had the younger kid asked him that during his stay here? He lost count by the end of the first day but he was pretty sure that it was already over a hundred times already. Sometimes, he felt like this was his mother's way of testing him.

"Because I dyed it, Dante." he replied calmly, cutting his steak quietly as he felt his mother's boyfriend's eyes on him the fifth time that night. Unfortunately for poor Haru, Niall had no intention of helping his mother support her boyfriend's _slight_misunderstanding. He was her _first_son after all, and she was a dean at the local university- no way was he going to pretend that he was a dumb Japanese boy who had poor English skills. He was Niall Gokudera, a Varia assassin, the storm guardian to Steffan de Giulio, a proud mafioso who knew over five languages and dialects. There was no way she was going to take away who he was while he lived with her.

"So how are things at home, honey?" Haru asked quickly, trying to avoid the future questioning her boyfriend was going to prod her on later.

"Fine, my instructor said I could start teaching piano if I wanted to..." It wasn't a complete lie, his instructor, who was actually his dad, really _did_say that he could get a teaching permit if he wanted to but if he remembered correctly, that was just over two years ago and things weren't fine anymore. But nonetheless, his mom who already knew the circumstances, squealed at the news happily as she threw her fork down to clap.

"That's excellent, Niall. You've got to play for me some time; I'd love to hear you play!" He let a small smile stretch his lips as they all fell into an awkward silence again.

When he found out that the tenth's daughter was in the same town as his mother, the teen was planning on taking his mom back home with him after retrieving Hitomi. But when Haru dragged him back to her house and he was met with four pairs of wondering eyes who she introduced as her boyfriend and his family. Niall blanked out.

He was told that she left to follow in her own father's footsteps and not because of a fight that resulted in the shattering of many of the mansion's glassware. He wasn't sure what to think when he woke up the second day of arriving at their shared house to the twins poking his cheek shyly and the first kid pulling at his hair. The first reaction was to flip them off his bed; the second was to try to keep the three children from crying.

"So um... how's Hayato?" His mother asked him in her native tongue a few minutes later when her boyfriend and his kids left the table to watch TV. Niall got up from his seat and started collecting dishes, carefully thinking of an appropriate way to answer her question.

"I haven't talked to him since I left Italy..." he admitted after a little while, dumping the plates in the sink and getting ready to wash them. Haru only smiled at her son as she watched him grab the sponge and soap and start scrubbing quietly.

"Did you guys get into a fight?"

"Sort of..."

The silver haired teen feels awkward all over again as he finishes up cleaning the dishes and his mom throws a clean cloth into his hands, "I'll do the rinsing, thank you, Niall."

He never really talked to her much, he realizes, outside of all the cover up missions that the Tenth sometimes sends him on to visit her. To him, the memories he actually had of her were more like ones that you would have of your favorite elementary teacher than ones that you would have of your mother.

"After spring break ends, I'm having you enter Junior High." she says suddenly, shocking Niall so much that his voice cracks when he cries out, "What! Why?"

He's starting to get rusty; it's obvious that he's been having trouble masking his feelings since he entered this house. Steffan will be disappointed when he returns back to base.

"Because people here take education very seriously and the police will definitely notice if they spot a teen scouting around the place when school's still in session." Haru says in knowing tone, as if she already won the argument.

"Well I can just show them my badge and they'll leave me alone."

"No!" The sudden raise of her voice makes him jump a little as his mother starts glaring at him, "I will not have a mafioso living in this house, you hear me?"

There's something scary in her tone that makes him gulp nervously, her eyes are sort of glassed over now as he watches her finish up rinsing the dishes and turn back fully to him, "for now you are my know it all son from _Japan,_since you refuse to help me and play dumb"

"Why do I have to go to school though, I learned everything there is to know in _Italy_." He asks in a bored tone, frowning at the sudden development in their conversation. He doesn't like where it's going, "and it's just going to get in the way of my search."

"Because... young one," he only stares curiously as his mom approaches him and puts a hand on his head, ruffling up his hair in the process, "what if she's in school? You could've been searching in the mall while she could've been in school the whole time. Besides, take this as an opportunity to make new friends other than Steffan and Harmi. I swear, you're just like your father sometimes..."

...

_She spins and laughs like the rag doll she carries as she runs back in forth in the garden, the image of a laughing cherub never stops replacing her in his mind's eye with every leap and twirl. Her giggles and footsteps are the only thing that echoes in the quiet scenery as she tries to get the two other kids to play with her._

_She hits one boy stubbornly in the eye with the rag doll and he hears the other boy laugh._

_He realizes that it's a mem-_

_"Don't let it end," her lips move and like subtitles to a foreign movie, he puts words to the strange static that comes out._

_He watches as the girl grabs onto the arms of both boys and starts walking off, each step shattering the garden they're in. Slowly breaking it as if she were walking on thin ice. And then the two boys let go of her and she falls, falls, falls._

_He wants to reach out, to grab onto her hand but like a heartbeat, her words turn into daggers that dig into his chest._

_They turn into pillows the moment they touch his skin and with a swinging light, the scene changes to a large bedroom. The two boys are staring shocked at the girl who fell on the ground in a mess of orange-brown hair._

_He hears them laugh again and he feels like he's aching, but he can't feel anything and so instead, he's left staring at a black white video with the words 'GONE' drawn right smack in the middle._

_"Keep dr-"_

_This time, he's the one running. There's a pain in his chest and he's holding an old tattered rag doll in one hand. Clenching it so hard that his knuckles are turning white. He's running like he's never ran before. Somewhere behind him, he could hear the sound of a playful giggle and as he turns his head back. He sees the face of an older girl with long brown hair and smiling eyes._

_She's singing to him a song that he's never heard before, a shy clear voice reciting lyrics like an old forgotten music box. His heart skips a beat as she keeps smiling at him, keeps singing soundlessly to him and for the first time of his life, he feels scared._

_The rag doll is then torn away from his hands and he finds himself falling, plummeting down into the abyss as a pair of arms encircles him._

_"Let's play again, stranger..."_

...

Niall jolted awake in cold sweat, quickly sitting up on the bed as he panted quietly in the bedroom. The sun was seeping through the curtains and he could already hear the muffled snores of Dante beside him.

His chest tightened as he scanned the room for the alarm clock.

5:44.

There's no way he was going back to sleep, he thought to himself as he carefully slid off the bed and took a random shirt and pants from the pile of clothes he had left on the floor the other day. Tucking in the younger boy, he leaves the bedroom in search of the kitchen and some paper and a pencil. He finds them almost immediately and it doesn't take even a minute for him to scribble down a quick note on it before he sticks it on the fridge and practically runs down the hall and out the door.

The blast of fresh air that rushes at him while he sprints down the street is almost welcoming; the faint scent of morning dew is evident in the air as the rows of houses turn into a long freeway leading to the beach. That doesn't keep him from running though; his chest is still tight, the dream still burning behind his eyes. The voices still crying in his ear.

Really, he doesn't know why he suddenly felt so anxious all of a sudden. He was pretty sure that these dreams never bothered him that much to trigger this kind of reaction. Maybe it's his father's words. Maybe it's the stress. Maybe the realization finally caught up to him.

He's still wondering why when his foot catches onto an elevated crack in the sidewalk and he falls, plummets straight to the ground just like the dream.

He doesn't know how long he spends on the ground until he rolls over listlessly and somehow finds himself falling off a ledge and into the sea. He doesn't react at first, not until he feels something brush past his leg and panics. A stream of bubbles escapes his mouth as he sputters and swims upwards, coughing and gasping for air when he surfaces.

It takes him a while for him to swim back to shore, and when he does, he's lying on the sand tiredly, coughing and crying like a little kid. He doesn't know why he's crying, maybe he got something in his eye, but his throat is tearing itself apart and he doesn't even realize that both of his feet are bleeding profusely.

If only Steffan could see him now... his boss would've definitely knocked some sense into him; he would've called him an idiot, a dolt, a failure for wasting all those months training to hide his emotions. Ever since he entered that house, he honestly didn't feel like himself anymore- or maybe it was the kids slowly loosening him up slowly, he didn't know the difference anymore.

Niall never really paid attention to the presence of the other person on the beach until after he calmed himself down and a towel was thrown over top of him with a small roll of bandages and a note telling him to be more careful next time. He didn't know what he was doing when he turned around to see the back of a girl with long messy braids running away from him. He just knew that he was screaming thank you like an idiot and was about to wave or do something stupid when he caught himself.

And just like that, he lost himself again when she turned around and waved at him with a bright smile on her face before disappearing around the corner.


	6. The Girl by the Beach

Oh my gosh, haha finally! I think this chapter is the whole reason why I wanted to rewrite sky drive/empyrean hearts or whatever. THIS FREAKING CHAPTER- I even made a video on it! Haha... too bad it didn't really turn out the way I wanted it too but that's fine because it's _dooonneee_!

Anyways, I have a bad sense of time in terms of grammar so please pardon that. And if anyone is wondering, the current setting is in March during the Spring Break and so that would make Hitomi 14, Niall 15-16ish, Steffan 15 and Harmonia 11. Also Haru's boyfriend's family includes the twins and Dante who is the first/oldest kid. If you have any questions, please feel free to review or message me. I don't bite.

A lot...

* * *

><p><strong>6. The Girl by the Beach<strong>

_"happy endings are stories that haven't ended yet"_

Haru didn't really take it well when her son came back home smelling like a sea monster, with a pair of bandaged feet and a damp hello kitty towel thrown over his head. Not well at all.

The moment he rang the doorbell and she stepped out _eagerly _after finding out it was her missing know it all son, he tuned out whatever the heck she was going to say. He feels better, surprisingly, after that drop in the sea and as awake as he may be, he feels a little too light headed to listen to his mom scolding him. He's in a good mood too, for once ever since he came to this godforsaken place.

The teen wonders halfheartedly who that girl was, he'll be sure to go find out whenever his mom relinquishes her anger on him for sure. However long that was going to take...

Maybe it was time to report back Steffan but then again there was nothing to report on, not yet... Call Harm and check up on her? Nah... What about his own family back at home... he almost laughed at that thought.

He's having all sorts of goofy thoughts when Haru finally stops screaming at him and takes the towel from his head and wrings it, using it to pat the teen dry and free of any loose grains of sand. There's a sigh on her lips that is quickly replaced by a wide smile as she squishes his cheeks, bringing him out of his thoughts and makes a point of lightly stepping on his toes, "next time you want to go on a morning jog, what about waking me up to go with you? Maybe then we could prevent something like this from happening again."

Niall only nods obediently and she brings him inside; he's been too caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize that he looked like a penguin while walking that he doesn't realize that he was waddling his way to the kitchen until one of the twins points him out on it and his mom's boyfriend starts giggling like a schoolgirl. He doesn't feel awkward though as he trots towards the table and grabs Dante's sandwich, finishing it off quickly and ignoring the younger boy's protests.

"I take it you don't jog quite often, Niall." her mom's boyfriend says jokingly as he practically swallows down sandwiches like a storm. Niall just laughs it off instead of feeling insulted like he usually does.

"Yeah well I'm too used to the mansion's workroom that I didn't realize I was outside and before I knew it, I was in the sea." He blurts out carelessly, scratching his head and thinks in the back of his mind how Uncle Yamamoto was doing at the moment. The last he's heard was that he was assigned a mission to somewhere in America.

Like always, he didn't even realize just what he said until his mom quickly tried to correct him, "haha... you've been hanging out with Steffan too much. Wow, you pretty much live at his house, don't you?"

"W-wait... you fell in the sea?"

All hell went loose when they finally realized the brutality of Niall's situation, starting with the sudden fountain of blood that sprang up from his foot in a comical matter that very moment.

By the time dinner rolled by, Niall's foot was re-bandaged and the two adults were left wondering in shock how the teen was able to function properly without complaining with multiple broken toes as he excused himself from the table and left the house once again. This time wearing sneakers and equipped with his mom's cell phone.

Without anywhere in mind, he found himself walking the same route he took during his run from reality. With the anxiousness from the morning gone and regaining whatever pride he had left, he felt the sudden urge to find the girl he met and thank her properly. This time not like a total idiot.

It was strange, he should've been scouting the town by now, should've been making up for the time he's going to lose when he'll be in school but instead, here he is. Trying to track down a girl who threw a hello kitty towel at him. Really, Niall didn't want to think anymore, not after knowing that all his thoughts were all on her the whole time.

_I need to get this over with_... he thought bitterly after shaking off any unnecessary thoughts, _right now, my first priority is Hitomi, I don't have the time for anything else._

Nonetheless, he couldn't help but frown at that thought. She was still alive, he was sure of it, but he's been neglecting his training lately in favor for finding her. Steffan would kill him for sure and he was pretty sure his actions wouldn't reflect well on his familyeither. He was probably setting a bad example for Harmonia...

Niall sighed heavily as he drowned deeper into his thoughts; it was strange that Steffan had also wanted to find the tenth's missing daughter. Even though the three of them had grown up together, the current Varia head's son showed no attempt to befriend her. It was always Niall who was the middle ground; he could even go as far to say that her presence annoyed him. When she disappeared, he was left without competition and would've become the head since no one else qualified; you would think he would have it easy, but he didn't. Niall knew how much he trained in his spare time and worked outside of Reborn's lessons, even the uncaring Xanxus- his dad showed some concern at one point. It wasn't normal and he could only-

"Heads!"

The silver haired boy blinked in surprise, catching the volleyball effortlessly in one hand as he observed his surroundings curiously. He was already at the beach? Since when? Oh man, was he getting rusty...

"Hey man! Nice catch!" Niall looked up to see a guy his age running towards him, combing his blond hair back with one hand and throwing the other around his shoulder, "Name's Drew, we need an extra person in our game. How about it?"

He just nodded while muttering a quiet agreement without thinking, whatever Drew had asked him flew by at the speed of light and he couldn't get the chance to fully understand him until the guy pulled him into the court where his friends were waiting for him.

"Took you long enough, you dweeb!"

"Sick hair, man!"

"Who's that?"

"You seriously did not just pull a random person into our game, Drew!" Niall frowned indecisively to himself as one of the chicks walked up to him, scowling and practically shoving her tits into his chest. He didn't know if she was trying to come onto him or if she was just stupid, "but he's pretty cute, so I guess its ok."

"My name's Starla, by the way." She smiled, taking a step back and started pointing to all the other people in the court. Telling him their names and what not; just when he thought she was finished with introductions, she pointed to someone a little ways off from the court, a girl who was laying on a towel under an umbrella, "and that's... well I don't really know her name but we call her Mimi. She's kind of autistic so she doesn't say much"

"Why's she sitting by herself?" The back of her head made her seem like she was lonely, if that didn't sound creepy enough... he wondered if she was hanging her head down low on purpose. Did people actually know when they're being stared at?

"Mehh, she told me that she didn't want to join when we came so we kind of just let her retreat to her corner." Starla shrugged a sort of half-concerned half-_mehh_-ish shrug as she turned back to the group and grabbed the volleyball that was still in Niall's hands, "don't worry, she's always like that. C'mon, let's play!"

He was pretty shocked; sure he was brought up differently... he was a Mafioso- a Varia assassin for Pete's sake, of course he wouldn't be like other kids but were most American teenagers this... self centered? He sure wasn't going to be looking forward for school when it starts, maybe he should just skip and use the time to search for Hitomi like he was told to.

But then Haru would have his head...

"Niall!" He didn't even hesitate as he put his thumbs together and bumped the ball up, watching silently as Drew called it once it was clear that it was going to fall down again on their side.

The game continued like that, with the ball soaring this way and that; the boys switching positions constantly while the girls screamed at the top of their lungs every time they scored a point. It felt like forever had passed by when the girls finally admitted defeat and everyone sank down to their knees laughing like idiots.

"Hey, you're not from around here, are ya'?" asked one of the guys as he sighed tiredly and wiped his sweat off with a random towel.

"Just moved here," Niall said, lying through clenched teeth as he searched his mind for the perfect lie, "my mom got a new job."

"So where were you before coming here?" Starla asked curiously, as she walked over and passed a clean towel to him. He thanked her quietly before raking his brain for another lie.

"Japan." He said quickly, he wasn't going to dare say Italy- it would throw them all off and who knew if one of them were part of the local mafia family. Even if they were normal civilians, he still had to be careful. Besides, he looked kind of Asian anyways.

"That's so cool!"

"Oh my gosh, you're a math wiz then?"

"Tell us your Asian name!"

While he was trying to answer all the questions his new found friends were bombarding him with, he couldn't help but notice the autistic girl- Mimi, walk up to Starla and tap on her shoulder politely,

"I need to go now..."

"I'll walk you back!" He said, shooting up from where he was sitting with a hand held up high in the air childishly, Starla giggled as Mimi let the slightest bit of a smile escape her features. She didn't realize that her little slip up answered all of his suspicions.

When they finally managed to escape from the group, he couldn't help but stare at the silent girl walking beside him. He knew it was the girl from that morning, the moment he saw the back of her head he could tell it was her. And now he was trying to figure out what the heck would be a good conversation starter with a girl who was obviously lying to her friends. What would Harmi say?

"You're not actually autistic, are you?" Oops. Zero points for Niall.

The shocked look on her face said it all- he knew for a fact that people with autism had trouble showing their feelings. Dino's youngest son has a form of autism and man; it's like talking to a robot.

"I... I..." Now he was closer to her, he could clearly tell that she didn't talk a lot. She practically croaked out the words.

"Save your breath, do you know sign language?" He watched as she started moving her wrists delicately.

_A little_, she told him; a small frown on her face as she looked at him for the first time. He felt his breath get stuck in his throat as he looked into her big eyes, _I'm sorry. What was your name?_

"Niall," he answered, shoving his hands into his pockets as he followed her home, trying to match his usually fast pace with her small one, all the while trying to ignore his pounding chest, "Mimi right?"

Mimi didn't sound right. She didn't look like a Mimi to him, it was like calling a pot a spoon... and the worst part was that it felt like he actually seen her before too. At some other place at some other time. Maybe it was at a party but something about _her _irked him.

She didn't do anything at first but lifted her right hand up, forming a gun with her middle and index fingers and thumb. But as soon as she formed the sign, she withdrew her hands and just nodded quickly.

H.

"Thanks for the towel earlier," he blurted, quickly changing the topic. She smiled at him then, _you fell into the sea so I kind of had to._

They rounded another corner and stopped at a small house facing the sea, he guessed it was her house.

"Will I... um... see you again?"

_Tomorrow morning?_

"Sure."

Her smile couldn't have been more nostalgic then as she opened the gate and walked down the front yard, waving at him before disappearing inside her house.

Niall heaved a huge sigh as he took the phone from his pocket and started dialing Haru's boyfriend's number, cursing under his breath as he walked away.

What an idiot.

* * *

><p>Ok… I admit- not the best thing I've ever written but it isn't like anyone's reading it haha. I'm sorry, the whole thing was sort of boring from the start but I promise it'll get more interesting soon!<p>

Review?


	7. Days Old Pierrot

**7. Days Old Pierrot**

_"You got it all down, got it all down into a science but I got it all down into a song,_

_I can break your heart in just three minutes."_

The kids were all seated neatly on the couch when he got out of the shower, watching intently as a redheaded mermaid got her voice taken from her by the sea witch. Watching that, Niall couldn't help but laugh at the irony.

"Niall, where are you going?" asked the youngest twin, as she looked up from the TV and tugged on his jacket lightly. Haru was humming a quiet tune from the kitchen and their dad still hadn't waken up yet.

"I'm meeting a friend," he answered evenly as he took his attention away from the television and messed up the younger kid's hair, his rings clicking together comfortably while doing so. Putting on his father's rings was something that he's been unintentionally doing nowadays, without them; he couldn't help but feel like something was missing. Not even his Varia ring was enough to fill that void and it wasn't like his mom was going to let him wear _that_ casually.

He was never one to watch children movies, or movies in general now that he thought about it. In Italy, he was always up in the air; Niall was the sort of person who wouldn't be able to sit still, even if he had to. The silver haired teen scoffed quietly to himself as he turned away from the television, shaking the feeling of fascination towards the movie aside for tiredness- he did stay up all night doing mental training, after all.

He was an assassin; one mission shouldn't be his undoing. Like what Reborn had once told him, hitmen have to be in tiptop shape. Always.

Of course, that was before he bombarded him and Harmonia with a barrage of bullets while they were waiting for Steffan to finish up the meeting with the Tenth and Steffan's dad.

He shivered at that memory, they were lucky to even get away with minor injuries; he wondered how the heck the Tsunayoshi ever manage to survive his training.

"Good luck with your date, honey!" Haru called out then, showing up from around the corner with a plastic spatula covered in cake batter. She smiled brightly at him before pretending to shed a tear, "Oh my beautiful young Niall, not even a month passed and he managed to score himself a date! _Idiot, _what have you've been teaching our son?"

Niall could only laugh nervously as he struggled to get away as his mom practically threw herself at him then, waving the spatula high up in the air dramatically, "Now he's avoiding my love! _Nialll, why won't you love mommy?_"

He could hear Dante laughing his little butt off in the background as Haru got back up on her feet and pointedly stared at him before beaming, "guess what! I found my _Namehage_costume."

Niall paled as he paused from putting on his sneakers on his now bandage-free feet (no one questioned him on his fast healing abilities yet). He heard rumors of his mom's famous _Namehage_costume, apparently she scared all of Vongola badly in one of the parties they were hosting while wearing that thing once. He wasn't going to be looking forward to seeing her childhood costume if she was able to scare _Mukuro _and _Hibari_of all people with that thing on.

He said a quick goodbye to his mom before dashing off, the sounds of Haru calling after him and the kids waving to him grew distant the more and more he ran.

When he finally got to Mimi's house (he still couldn't agree with that name even though he had no good reason not to), he was welcomed with a cold spray of water in the face and a string of giggles.

He raised an eyebrow curiously as he blew the hair out of his eyes, glaring from beneath his bangs at the mute girl who just waved at him politely before going back to watering the plants like nothing happened.

He must've been really tired then because his vision flickered and instead of Mimi, he saw someone else- a familiar figure, Harmonia or maybe someone older replacing her image. His breath got stuck in his throat as he did a small jump, staring at her with wide eyes as he brushed his bangs aside as she turned off the hose and signed to him, _good morning._

He blinked, and everything turned back to normal.

"Ready to go yet?"

_Wait, let me change. I got mud on my dress._

The day went by just like that, Haru had supplied him with enough cash to go by like a normal teenager would; he didn't even know how the heck eating and randomly meeting up with the people he had met yesterday took a whole day but somehow it did. The minutes turned into hours for Niall and Mimi, who surprisingly was very tolerant of his constant whining and complaints that sprouted every time they went into a small town restaurant.

There really wasn't that much to talk to her about, but apparently she was working on her talking voice last night and managed to slip in a couple of sentences every now and then. Nonetheless, he was pretty proud of her.

Even if they were lies.

The days following that were a breeze; he would get up bright and early on weekdays to visit Mimi, return in the afternoon for lunch and to walk Dante and the twins. Dinner and then he would leave once again with Haru's boyfriend to go to the gym (man, was he surprised the first time they went together and Niall was lifting weights two times more than what he could hold up). Haru was proud of her son, proud of how he was able to get along with her boyfriend's family in such a short time.

She didn't realize that he was doing more than just that in his free time.

Most weekends and afternoons when the kids didn't feel like getting off their butts, he dedicated to what his original purpose was- to find Sawada Hitomi. He wasn't an idiot, he wasn't going to let this mission turn into a vacation; he still had a duty he had to perform. He wasn't going to let those cold winter nights he spent outside go to waste.

A few days into investigating without Haru and her boyfriend's family suspecting anything, he managed to uncover clues to her tutor's whereabouts. The Arcobaleno Skull, who went missing after their plane exploded.

It wasn't strange for an Arcobaleno to go MIA, heck no one knew where Verde was half the time- but the fact that Skull was her tutor and was on the same plane as she was threw him off. Sure, the other older guardians and Reborn shook it off as him just chickening out of riding the plane last minute and going into hiding but Niall knew who Skull was and his special ability.

There was no way her disappearance and his long term MIA status were not connected in some way.

So when he finally comprised all of the clues he needed, with a specified location and instructions- he asked Haru if he could leave for the next few days, promising her that he'll come back before the spring break was over.

It was night time when he finally arrived at the place, a shady looking house in the middle of a spooky neighborhood a few towns away. The taxi driver had looked at him strange for some reason when he stepped out of the car and handed him a roll of cash, muttering something about _haunted teens_before he drove back.

He had made sure to light his rings before scouting the place, placing a band of dynamite while doing so- half of his father's Sistema CAI that was given to him as a birthday gift on his dad's nicer days, along with a promise that he'll give him the rest when he finally retired. Putting it on made his forgotten anger spark tenfold, he still wasn't going to forgive him for his ignorance but he wasn't going to risk being killed in a dark forest in a neighborhood where no one knew where he was.

Niall let his warm storm flames devour him whole as he walked around the house, swinging open the fence and walking into the garden. The underground bartender had told him that no one had lived in that house for years, nor did anyone live in the houses surrounding it, so it seemed to be ok to be snooping around.

To any other teenager, it was like walking into a horror movie site, with the music and everything but to Niall, it was just like any other garden. He had seen too many gruesome scenes to even feel the slightest bit scared, just jumpy. The weeds were growing by the dozen, taken over what was once, he guessed, a beautiful garden- he couldn't help but think how much Steffan's mom would freak out at the sight. The thought bringing a simple smile on his face as he scanned the perimeter.

It was a big garden, complete with a patio and swing set and everything, a little kid's dream. Yet everything was old and rusty and it smelled strangely of ashes.

What had the guy told him again? Oh right... head to the patio.

The street lights were flickering spookily as he took the time to look around once again, something was watching him. Something or someone.

Niall stepped into the patio and flared his flames once again as he scanned the surrounding area. There was nothing around him.

Then why did he feel so jumpy?

His attention drifted to something that was lying in the corner of his eyes, beneath the floorboards. He leaned down silently with a frown on his face and picked it up; flaring his flames once again to read whatever was scribbled on the page.

'HEAD TO THE CELLAR'

He raised an eyebrow at that, from what he was seeing; the page was yellow with age. The pencil was fading but the orders compelled him, and he found himself stepping off the patio and to the door by the side of the house- the cellar.

The noise he made when he swung the door open was inhumane, he was so glad no one was around to hear the poodle lion gasp he made. But he didn't regret it for too long because he felt that feeling again.

He had to bite his tongue this time as he searched the perimeter for hundredth time. He was pretty sure there was no one around but the feeling was unmistakable.

Niall decided to jump into the cellar before he wasted more time.

He let out another undignified scream when he looked up after regaining his footing on the cold ground.

"Are you here to get me?" asked a boy drily as he crawled out from the shadows, "are you who Skull sent for to get me?"

The silver haired teen could only stare in shock as the young boy crawled his way over to him, his bony arms clasping his pant leg weakly, a faint smile on his pale pale lips as his necklace shone brightly with an ever so familiar purple light.


	8. Gallows Bell

Urgh, I am _so _not getting into honors again this year… I still have to decide which high school I want to go to as well! I am sooo screwed…

Author note author note…

* * *

><p><strong>8. Gallows Bell<strong>

_"and in his arms is his bleeding, love of his life"_

Niall didn't know what to do but sit awkwardly in the 24 hour McDonalds as he watched the boy scarf down three hamburgers whole.

He didn't even feel the slightest bit disgusted when snot started to run down the boy's face as he stuffed himself with the happy meal the older boy bought for him, just leaned over and wiped it off with a cheap tissue. He did hear the loud snort the cashier made though and had to restrain himself from punching the poor fellow. He really hated coming to places like this, there wasn't anyone who actually seemed to care about customer's satisfaction. He swore every burger he ever gotten from these fast food joints had spit in them.

But nonetheless, when he saw how skinny the young boy was; how weak and frail he was, he felt sick down to the pits of his stomach. He had an idea why he possessed the purple pacifier, and sort of understood why he was hiding down in the cellar. But carrying the young boy was like carrying a sack of feathers, he was worried that he might accidentally drop him and that he'll just _snap_.

Niall scowled with a frown on his face as he cleaned the snot off his face again, telling him to stop crying in hushed tones as he pried the burger from his hands and replaced it with the bottled water. Ever since he announced that he was going to feed him, the boy wouldn't stop crying; he wasn't sure if it was because he was scared or grateful. All he knew was that he was sure not to have kids when he was older.

The boy gulped it all down desperately, watching him with wide beady eyes as he sat back down and sighed.

Instead of finding Hitomi's tutor, he found the new cloud Arcobaleno.

He wasn't sure if that counted as being productive or just a waste of time. After all, who knows how long he's been in there. He groaned under his breath as he looked away, Skull was his only living link to Hitomi and now he was dead.

He had to start from scratch all over again.

"Ermm... you're Niall right?" The silver headed teen snapped his head back to the young boy. If he managed to fatten him up in the next few days then he could've looked like he was around Harmonia's age, he imagined. But no; instead he was bony, sickly pale and pretty short. And he still had to take him to the hospital for a checkup and shopping for new clothes. For all he knew, the kid could've contracted cancer in the cellar.

"Skull told me a lot... about you;" Niall raised an eyebrow curiously at the kid. Skull talked about him? He barely knew the cowardly stuntman.

"What's your name?"

"Ginta," the name seemed to roll off his tongue naturally and Niall liked it so much that he repeated it on his own lips. He smiled, "and how old are you, Ginta?"

"Mmm... I think 10." He was right, Ginta was around Harmonia's age, "Skull told me not to go out of the cellar until you came to get me."

"How long have you been in there?"

He couldn't help but frown to himself as Ginta held out six fingers, "I was this old when he told me to hide in there, sometimes there would be a nice old man who would come by with a loaf of bread."

"Do you know what happened to Skull?"

"I think he died."

Niall nodded to that, not even giving any thought that maybe he was too young and fragile to deal with these things. Ginta didn't seem fazed by it though so he went on with his interrogation session.

"Do you remember what happened?"

This time it was Ginta's turn to nod as he retold the events that unfolded before he was hidden in the cellar with as much detail a ten year old could give.

Apparently, Skull had adopted Ginta from the orphanage and was training him up until that day when men barged through the door and started firing their guns. One of the stray bullets hit the Arcobaleno right in the chest and the older man ushered him into the cellar, chanting some sort of spell and passing the pacifier to him. That was all he remembered but to Niall it was enough.

He stood up then, wiping crumbs from his face as he picked up the younger boy, muttering "let's go get you checked up then."

It was the middle of night when he realized what situation he found himself in.

Ginta was snoring lightly beside him, tired from the night's events. As it turned out, Ginta was suffering from _a bit of_malnutrition but nothing a little food couldn't fix. How that was possible, he didn't even know but that wasn't what was worrying Niall the most.

What worried him the most was where the heck the kid was going to stay when he went back to Haru's boyfriend's house.

Of course, Haru might be willing to take in the boy but he really didn't want to be imposing on her boyfriend like that, and leaving him with Mimi would be the worst thing he could ever do. The girl could hardly speak, how the heck can she communicate with Ginta and heck, even though he had enough money to, he sure as hell wasn't going to rent out an apartment room for the kid. That'll be like leaving him alone all over again.

He groaned into his palm, how many things can he possibly get into?

How did finding Hitomi become this hard and stressing?

When Niall woke up from a sleep that he couldn't remember falling into, it was to the sound of a girl singing. He immediately flew out of bed and scanned the entire room and was ready to take out his box weapon when Ginta started giggling.

"Good morning, Niall." He turned around to see that his small hands had gotten a hold of his laptop somehow and relaxed before crawling back into the bed and looked over his shoulder to see what he was doing. Ginta sort of shrugged uncomfortably when he dropped his chin onto his shoulder and giggled when he started shaking his head against his shoulder tiredly.

The fact that Ginta was using his laptop, the same one that he used to store mafia secrets and hack security with to go look on cover videos didn't even faze him as he searched the screen for what he was looking at. And when he did, he couldn't help but think that his eyes must've liked popping out of their sockets because when he caught sight of the source of the singing, he almost turned blind with surprise.

"H-Hitomi?"

* * *

><p>review please<p> 


	9. Nightingale

**9. Nightingale**

_"I kept looking to the sky, if my wish were to ever reach you, _

_before my body disappears, hold me tight once more"_

He must've looked like a fish then- with his mouth dropped in surprise and eyes wide with disbelief. He must've looked like an idiot because _there was no way in hell he- no_anyone _could've missed_this.

She made videos for heck's sake! She has _millions_of hits- she's _internet_famous and somehow she managed to slip past them. The mafia! _Vongola_!

Niall knew it was her; he had no doubts about it. Her orange brown hair and unique voice gave it all away.

He wasn't an idiot, he heard her sing before; her voice had been etched in his mind ever since she disappeared. She was one of those people with a wide vocal range, someone who never really had _just one voice_. One day she could sound exactly like a little boy and sing like one of those Chinese opera singers the next.

Shiroko.

That was her username.

Of course she'll be famous on the internet, knowing her she probably spend her days MIA singing. He could already imagine scouts tripping over themselves just to offer her a record deal.

"Niall?" he was giving himself a headache just thinking about it, such a big clue... On the internet among other places! He could only dream about the what ifs.

But now wasn't the time to dream was it?

He averted his eyes from the girl singing to the clock on the bottom side of the screen on his laptop.

8:16 AM

"Niall?" Ginta called once again, as he paused the video and put the laptop down. His head only sank further down as the younger boy started to fidget, "Niall, are you that tired?"

Letting out a loud growl, he jumped up from the bed. Throwing the boy over his shoulder as he stretched his muscles, announcing in a loud voice "time for your bath, kid!"

The pacifier that was hanging from his neck shone brightly briefly as he took off to the small washroom, dumping the child in the bath tub and stripping him with an ease. The glow didn't bother him as much as it should've as he turned the hot water on, ignoring Ginta's surprised cries.

All he could think of was how stupid and unreasonable he's been acting lately, if it was Steffan; then he was pretty sure that Hitomi would've been home by now. But it wasn't, instead it was Niall Gokudera who claimed this mission. Niall Gokudera; the failure son, the failure assassin, the weakling, the incompetent, the useless...

"You're hurting my back!" The silver haired teen was snapped out of his thoughts as something akin to soap was splashed onto his face by the fidgety kid. What was he thinking? Now wasn't the time for self pity...

"Sorry Ginta but_you're so goddamn dirty,_" he muttered the last part in Italian as he stared at the red mark he made on the boy's back.

He wasn't lying- the boy was filthy. He was scared that he would have to resort taking him to a salon of some sort to get him all cleaned up.

But of course, that'll be _after_he fatten the kid up.

He let out a loud sigh as he dropped the sponge and moved onto his hair, massaging it first as he applied the cheap hotel shampoo they provided, "Niall?"

"hmm..?"

"Why did you call Shiroko Hitomi?"

He rubbed Ginta's head lightly, as he tried to think of an appropriate answer. He remembered telling Ginta about the tenth's missing daughter but he didn't really want to go into detail that his mission was to find her and bring her back to Italy and him stumbling upon Ginta was just a total accident.

He was too caught up in his thoughts that he almost didn't catch the younger boy saying, "because Hitomi told me once that she made an account so she could sing once. She told me go check out Shiroko's video if I ever got close to a computer..."

He turned the shower wand on and just nodded his head slowly, letting the fact that Ginta knew Hitomi while she was _here_sink in, "did she say anything else?"

"She said that she misses you..."

"Oh really? Well that'swell-" he stopped and dropped the wand as he finally got it through his head, Niall didn't even care for the chaos he just created in the bathroom as he resisted the urge to punch something then.

Ginta knew Hitomi.

* * *

><p>arghh it's too rushed and short- not like anyone actually reads this far though...<p>

REVIEW IF U ARE PLEASE! I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER


	10. Regret

I'm losing motivation to write this harharhar, but fear not- I MADE A PROMISE TO MYSELF THAT NO MATTER WHAT, I'LL FINISH SKY DRIVE NO MATTER WHAT! MWAHAHAHA!

* * *

><p><strong>10. Regret<strong>

_"After all this has passed, I still will remain."_

One of the many memories Niall had of Hitomi was one of a cruise ship and a vacation.

They were so young back then, he didn't remember how long ago it was but he was pretty sure it was when Haru still lived with his dad. Which felt like eons ago.

It was just the three of them then- just him, Hitomi and Steffan. They were playing on a Caribbean cruise away from their parent's watchful eyes.

Just thinking about it felt like a dream- he once read that the more you remember something, the more you change it.

He didn't actually remember the actions prior to the accident- though he could make up theories.

The most logical was that young Steffan thought it would be funny if he threw Hitomi off the railing and into the deep blue sea.

And that was probably how it was.

He remembers Hitomi crying.

Remembers her sobbing, drowning, flailing in the sea, and trying to stay afloat.

He remembers her father jumping off the boat to retrieve his only daughter, not bothering to remove his mantle while doing so.

He remembers how much he thought Tsuna was Batman then, with his dark cape bellowing out behind him like wings as he went _down, down, down._

Then he remembers being scolded by the adults.

Because he didn't even do a thing about it.

Because all he did was stay rooted in his spot and laugh while she drifted further and further away.

Thinking back made him feel a bit queasy.

She never did like water after that, he sighs into his hand, she never did learn how to swim after that.

Because that day the two of them gave her a lifelong trauma and this was the only way they could think of to redeem themselves.

Oh, how he wished he could have a drink.

He looked out the window of the bus coldly, Ginta was sleeping soundly beside him and the quiet lull of the radio was the only thing he could hear that wasn't the hushed sounds of snores. The silver haired teen glared as he watched cars zoom past them on the highway.

So Ginta was the new Cloud Arcobaleno.

So Ginta knew Hitomi.

Maybe he did need to report back to HQ and have that talk with Harmonia.

* * *

><p>It took a long time but after an hour of explaining, Niall finally managed to get his mother's permission to let Ginta stay at her boyfriend's house.<p>

He felt accomplished somehow, as the two of them swore that they'll fatten the kid up by the end of the month. Seriously, it was like looking at those African Help ads, his heart dropped just watching the six year old play with his step-siblings.

After a few days of light dieting that was slowly increasing in fats, Niall believed it was time for the kid to try his first home cooked meal in forever.

Watching the younger kid stare in wonder as Haru set down the final dish almost made the older boy cry with pride and all that sappy stuff. It was like the first time he took him to McDonalds, Ginta was just too wonderstruck to do a thing.

Even Haru's boyfriend was wiping a tear from his eye when Ginta began _inhaling_ everything down.

It made him wonder what state Skull was in when he decided that he had to lock his future successor in the cellar, waiting for a teen that might not even come.

He was glad he got that tip and carried it all the way through.

Later that night, after taking out the single mattress in the guest room that he was staying in and replacing it with a bunk bed, Niall took out his laptop and started pressing keys.

A window popped up, requesting for a video chat when he started up the CEDEF international research hacking program.

After pressing more keys, another window popped up but this time Niall waited for it to load until the face of his beaming assassination partner popped up in the corner of his screen.

"Niall!" she squealed, looking straight into the webcam with a smile on her face. The sun was coming up behind her, breaking through the window of her room and making her look like a pretty ugly statue.

"Did you just wake up?" he whispered into the mic, careful not to make too much noise as he continued typing into the CEDEF program that he had installed back when he doing volunteer work for them.

_/command prompt: alpha b - search title. Information_

_/connection: CEDEF hacking network- user 1159A_

_/rom: option. information search - open 2_

_/option- specific 6_

_/command prompt: search - user Shiroko_

_/user: CEDEFxdiag connecting..._

"So anything to report?" she looked hopeful, as she watched him from her side of the screen. It was dark but she could see the dark circles below his eyes, "Niall. Maybe _you_ should get some sleep. You can call me up later, I'm here all day. Steffan's in the other room, I can get him if you want."

"No, I'm fine." he said almost a little fast, Ginta shifted on the bed on top of him, "I found the new Cloud Arcobaleno though, it also seems like I won't be returning until late next year..."

Harmonia looked shocked, "new Arcobaleno? But Skull... Next year?" She swallowed, slowly taking everything in, "you sure you don't want to report to Steffan?"

_108 files found_

_/locations- directive. GPS activate_

_/command prompt: select- d:/FOLDER 3_

_/command prompt: send to VARIA CORP- c:/dxvaria910..._

_/password: ********_

_/confirmation - YES_

"There is nothing to report," Niall said sternly and ran a hand through his hair stressfully, "Harm, I need to ask you something..."

"What is it?"

"Do you think I could actually find her?" He sounded lost; he noticed and realized that being with his mom brought on one too many emotions to surface. Being with _people_ was beginning to affect his judgment, he needed to do something. He needed a new drive.

He needed to _kill_something.

"You're Niall Gokudera. You can do anything" came her sweet voice in his headphones, he felt an impending headache come, "there has been some requests lately though... want to take them on? They're all relatively close to your area."

"I would like that," he whispered and smiled at the girl, "I've sent you all of what I've found. It should be in the database in a few."

"Great, and I just sent you the list of hits."

The silver haired teen chanced a glance back at the CEDEF hacking program.

_3 FILES FOUND - sent_

_OPEN?_

"Niall?"

"Yeah?"

"Take care, ok?"

"Ok."


End file.
